Mary J. Nelson is an author, speaker, and deployed pastor of prayer at Hosanna!, a church of seven thousand members in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. She serves on the International Healing Institute’s guest faculty.

Mary has a passion for helping people encounter God and His goodness in the midst of trials and be empowered and set free to live out their destiny. She emerged from a breast cancer diagnosis in 1999 eager to share how God restored and transformed her life. Her deepest desire is to give away what she has freely received.

Mary is the author of Grace for Each Hour: Through the Breast Cancer Journey (Bethany House, 2005), Hope for Tough Times (Revell, 2009), Peace for Each Hour (Comfort Publishing, 2013), Jehovah-Rapha: The God Who Heals (Shiloh Run Press, 2016), and Praying for the Cure: A Powerful Prayer Guide for Comfort and Healing from Cancer (Shiloh Run, 2016). Her books inspire those suffering from physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual brokenness by helping them draw close to the heart of God. She founded and leads the Pray for the Cure cancer healing and discipleship ministry at Hosanna! where she also serves as a leader in the Sozo inner healing ministry and healing prayer ministry. She and her husband, Howie, have two adult children and two grandchildren, and have been married for 40 years.